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‘Stop killing Melanesians’

Vanuatu civil society plea

Saturday, January 21, 2017 Len Garae

PORT VILA (Vanuatu Daily Post/Asia Pacific Report): The five most prominent ni-Vanuatu charitable organisa-tions in the country — led by the Vanuatu Free West Pa-pua Association (VFWPA) — have petitioned the Aus-tralian government to “stop killing Melanesian people in West Papua” by providing financial support and military training for Indonesian elite forces Kopassus and Detach-ment 88.

The training programme is made possible under the Australia/Indonesia bilateral military cooperation.

The petition was signed by the chairman of VFWPA, Pastor Allan Nafuki; president of the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs, Chief Seni Mao Tirsupe; chief executive officer of the Vanuatu Na-tional Council of Women, Leias Cullwick; chief executive officer of Vanuatu Non-Government Organisations, Charlie Harrison; and pres-ident of the Vanuatu National Youth Council, Vira Taivakalo.

The petition says the decision has come at the right time to support

and encourage all the West Papua Solidarity Groups in Australia to

change the heart of the Australian government to “stop the killing of

Melanesian brothers and sisters in West Papua”.

Indonesia is losing Melanesia

Vanuatu Daily Post Dan McGarry

Jan 21, 2017

Picture of West Papuan leaders in Port Vila with Vanuatu President

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

On Sunday last week, New Zealand-based analyst Jose Sousa-Santos commented on Twitter that “Indonesia’s attempt at buying support from the Pacific region seem to have little to no impact on Melane-sia’s stance on [West] Papua. ”That’s one of those pesky observations that’s neither entirely right nor entirely wrong. The truth is: Indonesia is winning almost every battle… and still losing the fight. Conventional wisdom used to be that Indonesia had built an impreg-nable firewall against Melanesian action in support of West Papuan independence. Its commercial and strategic relationship with Papua New Guinea is such that PNG’s foreign affairs establishment will frankly admit that their support for Indonesia’s territorial claims is axiomatic. Call it realpolitik or call it timidity, but they feel that the West Papuan independence doesn’t even bear contemplating. Widespread grassroots support and its popularity among progressive up-and-comers such as Gary Juffa don’t seem to matter. As long as Jakarta holds the key to economic and military tranquillity, Port Mo-resby’s elites are content to toe the Indonesian line. The situation in Suva is similar. Fiji First is naturally inclined is to-ward a more authoritarian approach to governance. And it seems that the military’s dominance of Fiji’s political landscape dovetails nicely with Indonesia’s power dynamic. Many argue that Fiji’s relationship is largely mercenary. It wouldn’t flourish, they say, if the path to entente weren’t strewn with cash and development assistance. That’s probably true, but we can’t ignore the sincere cordiality between Fiji’s leadership and their Indonesian counterparts. The same seeds have been planted in Port Vila, but they haven’t take root. Until recently, Indonesia’s ability to derail consensus in the Melane-sian Spearhead Group has ensured that West Papuan independence leaders lacked even a toehold on the international stage. In the ab-sence of international recognition and legitimacy, the Indonesian gov-ernment was able to impose draconian restrictions on activists both domestically and internationally. Perhaps the most notorious example was their alleged campaign to silence independence leader Benny Wenda, who fled Indonesia after facing what he claims were politically motivated charges designed to silence him. He was granted political asylum in the United Kingdom, but a subsequent red notice—usually reserved for terrorists and inter-national criminals—made travel impossible. In mid-2012, following an appeal by human rights organisation Fair Trials, Interpol admitted that Indonesia’s red notice against Mr Wen-da was ‘predominantly political in nature’, and removed it. Since then, however, activists have accused Indonesia of abusing anti-terrorism mechanisms to curtail Mr Wenda’s travels. A trip to the United States was cancelled at the last moment because American authorities refused to let him board his flight. It was alleged that an Indonesian complaint was the source of this refusal. Independence supporters claim that Indonesian truculence has also led to Mr Wenda being barred from addressing the New Zealand par-liament. His appearance at the Sydney opera house with human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson received a standing ovation from the 2500 audience members… and an irate protest from Indonesian officials. Not all of Indonesia’s efforts are overt. Numerous commentators made note of the fact that Vanuatu’s then-foreign minister Sato Kil-man visited Jakarta immediately before his 2015 ouster of Prime Minister Joe Natuman. Mr Natuman, a lifelong supporter of West

Australia West Papua Association (SA) inc

January2017 Newsletter

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papuan independence, was a stalwart backer of member-ship in the MSG for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, or ULMWP. He was unseated bare weeks before the Honiara meeting that was to consider the ques-tion. Mr Kilman, along with Indonesian officials, vehemently deny any behind-the-scenes collusion on West Papua. But even with Vanuatu wavering, something happened at the June2015 Honiara meeting that surprised everyone. Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare stage-managed a diplomatic coup, a master class in Melanesian media-tion. In June of 2015, I wrote that the “Solomonic decision by the Melanesian Spearhead Group to cut the baby in half and boost the membership status of both the ULMWP and Indonesia is an example of the Melanesian political mind at work. Valuing collective peace over individual justice, group prosperity over individual advancement, and allow-ing unabashed self-interest to leaven the sincerity of the entire process, our leaders have placed their stamp on what just might be an indelible historical moment. ”Since then, the sub-regional dynamic has undergone a transformation. Mr Kilman’s administration suffered a collapse of unprecedented proportions following corrup-tion charges against more than half of his government. The resulting public furore seems—for the moment at least— to have catalysed a backlash against venality and personal interest. If the rumours are true, and Indonesia did have a hand in Mr Kilman’s palace coup, the tactic hasn’t worked since. A pair of no confidence motions—not very coincidentally on the eve of yet another MSG leaders’ summit—failed even to reach the debate stage. Kanaky’s support for West Papuan Independence has nev-er wavered, but given their semi-governmental status, and their staunch socialist platform, Jakarta would be hard pressed to find a lever it could usefully pull. For his part, Sogavare has survived more than one attempt to topple him. Hi sown party leaders explicitly referenced his leadership on the West Papuan question when they tried to oust him by withdrawing their support. In a masterful—and probably unlawful—manoeuvre, Mr Sogavare retained his hold on power by getting the other-coalition members to endorse him as their leader. His deft handling of the onslaught has raised him in the estimation of many observers of Melanesian politics. Some claim that his dodging and weaving has placed him in the first rank of Melanesia’s political pantheon. In Vanuatu as well, once bitten is twice shy. Prime Minis-ter Charlot Salwai raised eyebrows when he not only met with the ULMWP leadership, but accepted the salute of a contingent of freedom fighters in full military regalia. The meeting took place at the same moment as MSG foreign ministers met to consider rule changes that, if enacted, will almost inevitably result in full membership for the ULMWP. The MSG has traditionally operated on consensus. If these rule changes pass muster, this will no longer be the case. It is a near certainty that Indonesia will do its utmost to avert this. Mr Sogavare has demonstrated an inspired approach to the situation: If the MSG won’t stand for decolonisation in the Pacific, he asks, what is it good for? This rhetoric has become a chorus, with senior politicians in Vanuatu and Kanaky joining in. Mr Sogavare is, in short, embarked on his own march to Selma. And he is willing to allow the MSG to suffer the

slings and arrows of Indonesian opprobrium. He is, in short, willing to allow the MSG to die for their sins. Whether we agree or not with the independence cam-paign, there is no denying the genius of Mr Sogavare’s ploy. His willingness to sacrifice the MSG for the cause takes away the one lever that Indonesia had in Melanesia. His key role in orchestrating an end run around the Pacific Islands Forum’s wilful silence is another trademark move. When human rights concerns were simply glossed over in the communiqué, he and other orchestrated a chorus of calls for attention to the issue in the UN general assembly. Manasseh Sogavare and his Pacific allies have found a strategy that is making the advancement of the West Pa-puan independence movement inexorable. As Ghandi demonstrated in India, as with Dr King’s campaign for civil rights showed again and again, anything less than defeat is a victory. Without losing a single major battle, Indonesia is—slowly, so slowly—being forced from the board.

A new leaf for land rights? Willem van der Muur - 17 Jan, 2017 Indonesia has recognised indigenous communities and their forests. But who will benefit, asks Willem van der Muur. Three years have already passed since the Indonesian Constitutional Court ruled that indigenous adat forests are not part of state-owned forest. But until recently the cen-tral government has done next to nothing to implement the breakthrough ruling. The latest recognition of nine adat forest indicates that this has finally changed. Still, the exact implications of such recognition remain uncertain, especially with regard to the questions of who will actual-ly benefit it and in what way. 30 December 2016 will go down as a memorable day for the indigenous people movement in Indonesia, when for the first time, a number of adat forests were officially transferred from the control of the state to the authority of indigenous communities. For this special occasion, com-munity representatives from various parts of the country were invited to the presidential palace in Jakarta. In the presence of Forestry and Environment Minister Siti Nur-baya Bakar and Domestic Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumo-lo, President Joko Widodo personally handed over the required legal documents to the community leaders, who were all dressed in their traditional tribal clothing. For them and their NGO representatives, the colorful event represented a landmark development.

A leader of the Ammatoa Kajang community with Presi-dent Joko Widodo. Photo: Republic of Indonesia Palace Documentary.

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Public demands for the recognition of indigenous people and their land rights emerged in Indonesia in the late 1990s, mainly as a response to the exploitative and abusive forestry policies of President Suharto. During his 32-year dictatorial rule, the mas-sive misuse of forest resources proved highly lucrative for Su-harto’s small circle of business and military associates. The gov-ernment had meanwhile declared all forests as state-owned land (more than 70 per cent of Indonesia’s land mass). This ruling meant that communities whose livelihood depended on forests were deprived of any legal entitlement to such lands. Although some reforms were implemented after regime change in 1998, many of the old practices continued. As a consequence, land disputes have been rampant in Indonesia. With its latest endeavour the Joko Widodo administration has shown that it takes indigenous land rights seriously. The first recognition of adat forest at the central government level covers nine plots of forests that were previously administered as state land. These forests are now designated to come under the legal authority of the communities inhabiting or controlling them. Covering a modest 13,000 hectares, the adat forests will alleged-ly provide land to some 5,700 families. According to President Widodo, these first nine forests are only the starting point of a longer, systematic process of giving back forestland rights to indigenous communities. The initiative is very much welcomed by AMAN, Indonesia’s biggest and most influential indigenous people organisation. With more than 2,000 member communities connected to AMAN nationwide, the organisation plays a central role in the advocacy of indigenous peoples’ rights. But while AMAN has declared that the country’s adat territory covers more than eight million hectares (inhabited by some 40 million people), it is un-likely that the government will get close to designating even a fraction of all this land as adat land. Many of the communities claiming adat forests are facing competing claims from planta-tion companies, mining corporations, conservation parks or mi-grant communities. Regional governments tasked with granting groups the status of ‘indigenous community’ tend to be hesitant when the claimed land is under dispute, especially when com-peting third parties have some kind of legal entitlement to the land.

Members of the Ammatoa Kajang community in Bulukumba (South Sulawesi), Photo: Willem van der Muur. For now, the Joko Widodo administration appears to have adopt-ed the popular view that indigenous communities are traditional, nature-friendly people living in close harmony with their forests. Recognising them is seen as beneficial from an ecological per-spective. The majority of the nine groups that have now been recognised seem to match this view of ‘traditional forest guardi-ans’. Generally, the state seems most willing to grant rights to those groups that can prove to be traditional, preserve their for-est and claim land that is ‘conflict-free’. An example is the re-markable Ammatoa Kajang group from South Sulawesi. The community upholds strict traditional rules regarding the protec-tion of its small forest and has not faced serious threats with regard to their land. As such, the recognition of their forest was one of the ‘easier’ cases for the government. But for most members of the Ammatoa Kajang community, the recent government recognition will hardly impact their daily lives. In that sense, the provided ‘rights’ are merely a symbolic gesture. Communities that are, on the other hand, in a less fa-vourable situation are likely to be excluded from obtaining in-digenous land rights. For the Joko Widodo administration, the real challenge ahead is to systematically provide access to land to those vulnerable people that need it mostly, irrespective of how traditional they are.

Willem van der Muur is a PhD candidate at the Van Vollenho-ven Institute for Law, Governance and Society, Leiden Univer-sity, the Netherlands. His research revolves around land dis-putes in Indonesia, particularly focusing on the legal, political and economic aspects of claims to customary and indigenous land. n.b. At the West Papua and climate change in the pacific con-ference in Sydney late last year a variety of speakers from West Papua spoke about this change in land ownership an how it affected them. They had already mapped out the customary land for all of West Papua and were starting to publish maps that will be available very soon. It was interesting to hear the debate about how this would affect deforestation and palm oil production. Papers from the conference will be out shortly.

Police most reported for

alleged rights violations Fachrul Sidiq The Jakarta Post Jakarta | Tue, January 17, 2017

West Papua rally participants shout from the back of a police

truck on Jl. Imam Bonjol, Central Jakarta on Dec. 1, 2016. Police

arrested 10 of them for bringing Free West Papua Movement

symbols. (JP/Safrin La Batu)

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has revealed that of all institutions, the police were implicated in the highest number of human rights violation cases in 2016. “Throughout 2016, Komnas HAM received 7,188 reports related to alleged human rights violations. From that report, the police were reported 2,290 times, the highest figure among all institu-tions,” Komnas HAM chairman Imdadun Rahmat said during a year-end report presentation at the commission’s office in Jakar-ta on Tuesday. The second and third place went to corporations and regional administrations with 1,030 and 931 reports, respectively, Im-dadun said. He added that most of the reports were related to violations of welfare and justice rights, such as a case in July when police officers surrounded a Papuan student dormitory in Yogyakarta to prevent residents from attending an event organized by the People’s Union for West Papua Freedom (PRPPB). The police also reportedly prevented an Indonesian Red Cross ambulance from delivering food to the dormitory.

Komnas HAM commissioner Nur Khoiron said the commission would continue cooperation with the police in an attempt to push the institution to be more human-rights friendly in carrying out its duty.

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“We have conducted some activities including launching a human rights pocket book for police officers and conduct-ing a general lecture about rights principles for students at the Police Higher Education College (PTIK),” he said. (jun)

Army to develop 500 ha rice fields , 16 Januari 2017 Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News)

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The Indonesian military plans to develop rice fields in the

remote district of Nabire in the countrys eastern province

of Papua this year.

The chief of the District Military Command 1705/Paniai

in Papua, Lt. Col. Jerry Harapan Tua Simatupang, con-

firmed here on Sunday that the project was a cooperation

project between TNI (the military) and the ministry of

agriculture to increase food self-sufficiency especially in

Papua.

He said several military officials from the command along

with Trubus farmers group chief and a number of farmers

inspected the area to be used for the project last week.

"The area spreads in Wanggar Sari village (80 hectares),

Wiraska (57 ha), Wami (60 ha), Waroki (25 ha) and Mai-

day (108 ha)," he explained.

Simatupang said the inspection was needed to see possible

hurdles that might be met during development process

including irrigation issue.

"I will deploy all members of the community development

unit to mentor the farmers with regard to achieving a max-

imum harvest," he said.

Papuan students arrest

extended

Lita Aruperes The Jakarta Post

Manado | Wed, January 11, 2017 | 11:10 am

Dozens of students, who staged a rally at a dormitory for

Papuan students on Jl. Kampus in Manado, North Sulawe-

si, were brought to North Sulawesi Police headquarters

to be questioned on May 31. (JP/Lita Aruperes)

The detention of four students from Papua who have been

accused of treason by Manado Police, has been extended

to Feb. 17 or 40 days since their arrest.

Manado Police crime unit head Comr. Edwin Humokor

said Tuesday the case dossiers had been submitted to the

prosecutor’s office. “Their detention has been extended to

simplify the investigation process,” Edwin said.

He said the suspects violated article 106 of the Criminal

Code on treason, which carried a maximum sentence of

life imprisonment and 20 years as a minimum.

The four are: William Wim, Emanuel Ukago, Panus He-

segem and Indonesian Consulate of the West Papua Na-

tional Committee (KNPB) head Hizkia Meage.

Lawyer Hendra Baramuli said he would file a pretrial mo-

tion to free the four.

He said the four had only expressed their opinions and

should not have been charged with treason.

The four were arrested along with 81 other students in two

locations in December last year. The others were released.

The KNPB has been campaigning for self-determination

in Papua and West Papua provinces, where collectively

the two internationally have been referred to as West Pa-

pua to distinguish the region from Papua New Guinea.

Jakarta keeps strong

grip as rallies intensify

Jakarta Post Moses Ompusunggu and Lita Aruperes

Jakarta/Manado | Wed, December 21, 2016 | 11:37

am

Jakarta is continuing its strong handed approach to Papua and West Papua, the country’s easternmost provinces torn between poverty and violence, despite calls to soften its stance in handling the restive region.

In Manado, North Sulawesi, 85 protesters have been de-tained by the local police for displaying the morning star flag — the symbol of West Papuan independence — in front of the North Sulawesi governor’s office in the city.

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The rallies were organized by the National Committee on West Papua (KNPB), an organization advocating the right to self-determination for the people of the two provinces.

KNPB chairman Hiskia Mogea criticized the police’s move, saying that it did not “comply with the procedures”. “The protesters had not yet started the rally when the po-lice arrived to arrest them,” Hiskia said on Tuesday.

The group said at least 528 protesters were arrested by the police following massive demonstrations held in various cities across the country on Monday to commemorate the 1961 military operation to seize what was then known as West Papua from the Dutch.

One of the detained protesters, who spoke under the con-dition of anonymity, said the detainees had been mistreat-ed in custody, claiming that the police had only served them once since the arrests took place on Monday.

In Jakarta, an advocacy group is considering taking legal action against the government for blocking a web portal containing information about human rights violations in Papua.

The Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) is con-sidering taking legal action against President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration for the block put on suarapapua.com, a prominent Papua-based online news outlet deemed to contain “negative” content according to country’s information law, which many consider to be draconian.

LBH Pers head of research and network development Asep Komarudin said the institute, which is suarapa-pua.com legal representative, may either file a civil law-suit to challenge the Communications and Information Ministry’s censorship, or file a report with the police ac-cusing the ministry of violating freedom of the press guar-antees in Article 18, point 1 of the 1999 Press Law.

“The ministry provided no clear reason for blocking the website, but we believe the site was blocked because it stood as a local news source that routinely reported on human rights violations in the region,” Asep told The Ja-karta Post.

“It was the voice of the voiceless [in Papua].”

The blocking of the website came amid a series of govern-ment crackdowns on websites it deemed as sources of sectarian sentiment, known in Indonesia as SARA, amid rising political tension related to the blasphemy allega-tions against non-active Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.

Following the report by suarapapua.com, LBH Pers then sent a letter to the ministry to seek information about its rationale for blocking the news outlet.

In response to the complaint by LBH Pers, the ministry said in a letter dated Nov. 21 and signed by the ministry’s director general for information applications, Semuel Pan-gerapan, that suarapapua.com was blocked upon request by “a ministry/government institution authorized to deter-mine whether a website has violated the law”. It did not explain further.

Editors note : prior to this last round of arrests there were 4,198 Papuans arrested for 2016 compared to 1,083 in 2015

Defense Ministry

upholds training for Islam

Defenders Front

Margareth S. Aritonang The Jakarta Post

Jakarta | Wed, January 11, 2017 | 07:09 am

God's soldiers — Islam Defenders Front (FPI) members

express their anger at a recent protest. (Tempo/-)

Contrary to the Indonesian Military (TNI), the De-

fense Ministry has defended Bela Negara (State De-

fense) training for members of the Islam Defenders

Front (FPI).

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Tues-

day that the military style training was for all citi-

zens regardless of their backgrounds, including FPI

members, but should be done properly.

"As long as we teach [the participants] good things,

why not? All people of the country must defend the

state. And so must the FPI," Ryamizard said.

TNI spokesperson Maj. Gen. Wuryanto previously

said the military institution had banned FPI mem-

bers from undertaking the training after photos of a

session in Lebak, Banten, were uploaded to the FPI's

Instagram account @dpp_fpi.

The TNI later removed Lebak military command-

er Lt. Col. Czi Ubaidillah from his post for holding

the training. Wuryanto gave his assurances that re-

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gional commanders throughout the country were

prohibited from providing training to the FPI alt-

hough the military has yet to issue an official letter

to confirm such instructions. The FPI has posted

more photos of similar trainings held by the military

for its members in Madura, East Java.

Ryamizard said his office would conduct its own in-

vestigation into the incident in Lebak over a viola-

tion of proper procedures that led the public to

question the Bela Negara program. (dmr)

Australian protest

upsets Indonesia Prof Juwana Pewarta: Azizah Fitriyanti Antara news 9 jan 2017

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Aus-

tralia should be careful in addressing the inci-dent of trespassing and raising of a separatist

flag at the Indonesian General Consulate in

Melbourne, University of Indonesia’s interna-tional law expert stated.

"Both countries should be careful in addressing this incident, so it will not affect bilateral rela-

tions," University of Indonesia’s international

law expert, Prof. Hikmahanto Juwana, remarked here on Monday.

The Indonesian government had earlier strongly criticized the criminal act carried out by mem-

bers of the separatist Free Papua Movement

who trespassed into the premises of the Indone-sian Consulate General and raised the sepa-

ratist movements’ flag on Friday (January 6).

Juwana noted that as two close neighboring

countries, Indonesia and Australia have wit-

nessed highs and lows in their bilateral rela-tions, but separatism is a serious issue for Indo-

nesia.

Moreover, Indonesia had earlier suspended mil-

itary training and education cooperation with

Australia following the insulting remarks and content published in textbooks in an Australian

institution.

"It is hard not to relate the flag raising incident

with the military cooperations suspension; the

perpetrator seemed to have mocked Indonesia by raising the separatist flag," he said.

Juwana expressed optimism that the Australian government would follow up on the protest and

request made by the Indonesian Foreign Minis-

try with regard to the incident and realize the importance of increasing security arrangements

at Indonesias missions.

On the other hand, Indonesia should intensify

its security measures for Australian missions to

avoid a similar violation.

"Officials of both governments should also meet

to demonstrate to the public that the two coun-tries are committed to maintaining good rela-

tions," Juwana added.

By resolving tensions between high-ranking offi-

cials of Indonesia and Australia, it was expected

that the issue would not escalate among the public that would then be more difficult to settle,

Juwana noted.

(Uu.A060/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)

Over 500 more Arrested December 19, 2016 Today on 19th December, rallies took place across West Papua to show support for the United Liberation Move-ment (ULMWP)’s full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), as well as rejecting the Indone-sian military’s illegal invasion of West Papua exactly 55 years ago on 19th December. You can read West Papuan Independence Leader Benny Wenda’s full statement written on this morning before the mass arrests here.

Around 10,000 people reportedly marched in Wamena, West Papua today to show their support for West Papua’s full MSG membership and to reject Indonesia’s invasion of West Papua. 87 people were arrested at this peaceful rally, including 6 children. 78 others were arrested the night before. Rallies were held in: Jayapura, Merauke, Nabire, Yogya-karta, Manado, Wamena, Jakarta, Sorong, Manokwari,

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Timika, Yahukimo, Biak, Bandung, Ternate, Ambon and Makassar. Total arrests: 528 Merauke: 126 people, all released. Nabire: 74 people, released except 12 people Yogyakarta: 38 people, all released Gorontalo & Manado: 86 people, several interrogated without lawyer Wamena: 165 people arrested, 15 were released Jayapura: 40 people

Indonesian students joined West Papuans demonstrating in Bandung today Jayapura: – Journalists were not allowed to cover near the Central KNPB HQ. – A journalist’s motorbike was confiscated without any clear reason. – The Central KNPB HQ was vandalized – Beatings reported during arrest, 7 people are badly in-jured Nabire: – Children were among the arrestees – Ill treatment by police by forcing protestors to smear their faces with coal and beaten with cane. Several are badly injured.

West Papuan children were among those arrested today for peacefully demonstrating in Wamena, West Papua Merauke: children were among the arrestees Sorong: At least one West Papuan activist was tortured by the Indonesian police. Wamena: – 78 people were arrested the night before protest – beatings reported during arrest. Several are badly in-jured – Police fired dozens shots to the air including tear-gas during arrest – 6 children are among the arrested

*Information in this media alert comes from Human Rights advo-cates within West Papua, the West

Papua National Committee (KNPB) and the Free West Papua Campaign. The LP3BH- Manokwari (Institute of Research, Inves-tigation and Development of Legal Aid hereby wish-es to report on the Situation in West Papua throughout 2016 paying special attention to several important and critical events, especially regarding human rights violations. We would like to report that during the past year, the government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has make a few positive moves during the course of the year with regard to resolving the violation of human rights in accordance with his stated inten-tion when becoming the president that he would take action regarding the situation in West Papua. We Recognise that his intention is to take some pos-itive moves regarding the violation of human rights in West Papua.. Clearly his intention was to restore the confidence of the Papuan people in the inten-tions of the government of the Republic of Indone-sia. This is indeed in accordance with Law 21/2001 on Special Autonomy for the Province of West Pa-pua as amended by Law 35/2008. There have indeed been some moves to allow access for foreign journalists to visit the Land of Pa-pua but unfortunately, this was not followed up by the introduction of specific regulations. This has meant that it has not been possible for foreign jour-nalists to carry out free and impartial investigations to make known the actual situation in the Land of Papua. The fact is that foreign journalists have been unable to freely investigate the situation and report their findings in the Land of Papua and throughout the world. This applies also to the granting of am-nesty to political prisoners who have been tried as well as those who have not been convicted. The LP3BH wishes to report that the violation of basic human rights continue to occur at a significant level. This applies to the freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly. Th fact is that the security approach is still widely used whenever the Papuan people organise peaceful demonstrations to give expression to their views that may conflict with the views of those in power, when they call for the right to self-determination. Up to the end of 2016, 8,000 Papuans were arrested, mal-treated or tortured simply for giving expression peacefully to their po-litical views. This has occurred in a number of cities in the Land of Papua, including Jayapura, Wamena,

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Merauke, Sorong and Fakfak. This means that the human rights situation in Papua is at a critical stage with regard to the right to freedom of expression and assembly.all of which have been seriously re-stricted for the past ten years.by the security forces using acts of violence in violation of the principles of democracy in accordance with the provisions of Laws 106 and 110. The LP3BH also states that no acts for the promo-tion of justice have been taken by the TNI (Army of Indonesia) or the police force which use acts of vio-lence in the Land of Papua.. Furthermore, the Government of Indonesia has shown no serious intention to give its support to resolve the serious cases of human rights abuses in the Land of Papua such as Wasior (2001), Wamena (2003), Paniai (2014) It is extremely important for the government and in particular President Jokowi to resolve these cases in accordance with the provi-sions of Law No 26/2000 on Human Rights and the Law on Human Rights Courts. It is very necessary for the President to issue legal provisions to put an end to actions that violate human rights that have been going on for the past fifty years. The security forces should also be ordered to stop attaching the label separatist to peaceful actions that are always used by the security forces when the Papuan people call for dialogue as the way to resolve the difference of opinions democratically while upholding basic hu-man rights. The LP£BH calls upon the government under Pres-ident Jokowi to de-militarise the situation the Land of Papua and put an end to the security approach and to handle the situation in West Papua by peace-ful means and dialogue.The cases of Wasior, Wame-na Paniai as well as Sangga-Manokwari should be on the agenda of the President in 2017.in accordance with the laws in force. The LP3BH together with the civilian and tradi-tional forces are preparing to take legal action re-garding the above-mentioned four cases onto the international arena if the government fails to show a clear commitment to resolve those cases. Peace. Yan Christian Warrinussy,Executive- Director of the LP3BH

Translated by Carmel Budiardjo, recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, 1995

A matter of principles The ‘five crazy principles’ and a rising challenge

for Indonesia’s ideology

BRADLEY WOOD http://www.policyforum.net/

a-matter-of-principles/

Recent reports of a suspension of military coop-

eration between Indonesia and Australia were

wildly exaggerated, but they emphasise the im-portance of proper intercountry linguistic, cultur-

al and political understanding, Bradley Wood

writes.

Indonesia’s official state ideology, the Pancasi-

la, has re-emerged as a dominant feature in po-litical rhetoric, while also being perceived as a

vulnerable political target by Indonesia’s political

elite during a very sensitive time in Indonesia.

It’s no surprise then, that the recent bilateral

incident between Australia and Indonesia in-volving the alleged laminated display of the po-

litical send-up ‘Pancagila’ (the five crazy princi-

ples), along with other political-ly sensitive training material about Indone-

sia’s chequered past in West Papua provoked

an official response.

There have long been suspicions among Indo-

nesia’s political elite about Australia’s intentions regarding West Papua dating back to Indone-

sia’s independence. These continue to linger in

the minds of some Indonesians because of Aus-tralia’s instrumental role in securing East

Timor’s independence. This latest development

has only raised the spectre of such pre-existing suspicions.

Recent political rhetoric in Indonesia has cen-

tred on reminding Indonesia’s citizens about its founding principles, namely the Pancasila—the

five principles that make up Indonesia’s official

ideology. This follows mass demonstrations backed by Indonesia’s

Islamic hardliners in November and December

9

last year, against the incumbent Jakarta Gover-

nor, locally known as Ahok, for alleged blasphe-my. Various political forces within Indonesia

have capitalised on these events in the run-up

to next month’s regional elections, which in-cludes the Jakarta Governor’s seat, now seen

as an ascension pathway to the presidency.

Inaccurate reporting of the ‘Pancagila’ incident,

based on the initially limited coverage in the In-

donesian press, gave rise to a public perception in Australia that it had caused a significant sus-

pension in military cooperation between the two

countries. The Australian media continued its media frenzy even after a detailed

press conference by the outspoken Commander

of Indonesia’s military (TNI) General Gatot Nurmantyo. This further fuelled the speculation

of a blanket freeze on military cooperation, de-

spite Gatot’s emphasis on the good relationship he has with the Chief of the Australian Defence

Force (ADF), Mark Binskin.

This media controversy, however, has since

been adequately framed as a miscommunica-

tion between the TNI, the Ministry of Defence, and the Presidential Press office. A belat-

ed press release was eventually produced by

the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security, and former Commander of the TNI,

Wiranto. This clarified the Indonesian Govern-

ment’s position—that only a specific language training program between the two countries had

been temporarily suspended.

The ‘Pancagila’ send-up that

was reportedly sighted by an Indonesian lan-

guage trainer at the Campbell Barracks in Perth, however, was not an Australian creation.

Last year, an Indonesian court chose not to im-

pose criminal sanctions after an Indone-sian activist posted the Pancagila principles on

Facebook, signalling an historic moment for

freedom of expression in Indonesia. It has also been widely used on social media by a number

of Indonesian-associated accounts that date

back to at least 2011.

Translated (see image), it reads: Belief in the one and only God / The Financial Almighty; Just

and civilised humanity / Corruption that is fair

and equitable; The unity of Indonesia / The unity of the political elite within Indonesia’s legal sys-

tem; Democracy guided by the inner wisdom in

the unanimity arising out of deliberations amongst representatives / Power which is led

by lust and depravity in the conspiracy of hypoc-

risy; and, Social justice for all people of Indone-sia / Social security for the whole family of offi-

cials and representatives.

There is no doubt that the public display of such

content at a language training facility at the

Campbell Barracks—where it would be seen by Indonesian defence colleagues—was a signifi-

cant political mistake, with potentially serious

implications for the bilateral defence relation-ship.

However, the use of sensitive political material, such as ‘Pancagila’, by the ADF’s language stu-

dents is important to Australia’s official lan-

guage and cultural training. Politically sensitive material like this provides a valuable insight into

Indonesia’s internal political dynamics from an

indigenous perspective, and it’s these insights that contribute to a better understanding of In-

donesia’s human terrain.

The outcome of an inquiry by the Chief of the

Australian Army, Angus Campbell, is likely to

have already been delivered, and there have been reports that indicate Australian defence

personnel have already been reprimanded. It is

important, however, that the Australian Army evaluate these language materials beyond their

politically sensitive attributes, as they improve

their linguistic and cultural understanding about their largest neighbour and, arguably, their most

important non-aligned defence relationship—

10

where respective interests often differ, but can

also be managed.

With such a diverse makeup in Indonesia,

SARA tensions—a security acronym used to explain ethnic, religion, race, and inter-group

inspired conflict—will likely continue to be a part

of the internal dynamics of Indonesia’s demo-cratic process. The challenge for Indonesia will

be managing these tensions within the confines

of its post-reformasi democratic limits, without using the extreme concept of an external proxy

war involving Australia, to build its national co-

hesion. However, reminding Indonesia’s large population about Pancasila and Indonesia’s na-

tional motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Di-

versity) may play an effective role here.

Indonesia continues, however, to face inter-

nal challenges to the Pancasila ideology by hard-line Islamic groups, such as the Islamic

Defenders Front (FPI). These groups have also

recently been trained by the TNI’s district com-mand, albeit without official approval, as part of

Indonesia’s civil defence program known

as Bela Negara. Gatot Nurmantyo, however, has defended the right of the FPI to participate

in the civilian defence training and there has

been at least one approved incident of FPI members engaging in civil defence training that

dates back to 2014.

While this is only basic civil defence education

centred around building a sense of patriotism,

national awareness, and belief in the Pancasila ideology, it demonstrates the complexities of

Indonesia’s policy response to uniting such a

diverse population. In this case, it appears that the TNI is playing an active role, and it’s there-

fore within the ADF’s purview to understand this

development in its entirety.

The ADF needs to pay attention to these inter-

nal dynamics and political sensitivities in Indo-nesia to prevent any miscommunication when it

comes to Australia’s laid back sense of humour

regarding world politics. However, preventing

the use of politically sensitive material across all

ADF Indonesian language programs, risks limit-ing the ADF’s nuanced understanding of current

developments impacting on the internal security

of a very important archipelagic neighbour.

This article is published in collaboration with New Mandala, the premier website for analysis on Southeast Asia’s politics and socie-ty Letter in SMH ' Special relationship' is house of cards

The West Papuan solidarity movement has been call-ing on the Australian government for years to stop all ties with the Indonesian military. Indonesia has just done so ("Cutting ties a matter of principle", January 6). It's a pity it did not come from the Aus-tralian side because of ethical reasons i.e. because of the behaviour of the Indonesian military in West Pa-pua.

Throughout the past year the Indonesian security forces cracked down on numerous peaceful rallies with thousands of Papuans arrested. Although the majority of activists were eventually released, during the arrests activists are regularly beaten and in some cases face torture. The Australian government should note that's it's now 53 years since Indonesia took over administration of West Papua in 1963 and West Papuans are still marching in the streets calling for a real referendum unlike the sham so-called act of free choice that was held in 1969.

We are continually told that Indonesia and Australia have a special relationship. What sort of relationship is it if an incident can occur because an Indonesian soldier does not like to see educational material about West Papua? The relationship appears to be a house of cards. The Australian government should realise the issue of West Papua is not going away and should be doing all it can to raise concern about the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indo-nesian government.

Joe Collins Australia West Papua Association Mosman

www.awpaadelaide.com visit our website for more information . We can be contacted at info@awpaadelaide.com or phone 83454480 or 83401847. By mail at P.O. Box 29 Kilkenny 5009 AWPA SA Incorporated is a Non Government Organisation that supports West Papuan Human rights and Papuans rights to self determination . Our newsletter is published every 3 months. For those wanting more frequent news please email us to arrange monthly or even daily email updates .

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Palm Oil Production Slowing

https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=1483 In 2016 plantation expansion in Papua slowed due to inter-

national pressure – but can it last, and can indigenous

Papuans set the agenda? In 2016 indigenous opposition to new plantations has continued around Papua: In Muting, Merauke some clans from the Marind, Yei and Mandobo eth-nic groups have declared that their land is not to be used for oil palm. Representatives of the Auyu, Wambon and Muyu ethnic groups in Boven Digoel and members of the Aifat people in Maybrat have complained that they have been deceived by palm oil companies operating in their areas. People in Sorongand Maybrat regencies have demonstrated to demand the revocation of plantation permits in their areas. In Keerom, the Marap people have estab-lished customary law blockades and held protests at state-owned company PTPN II’s plantation, saying they were taking back the land the company grabbed decades ago. The Yerisiam people in Nabire have also opposed a palm oil company which started clearing their sacred sago groves for a smallholder program, when the community had expressly re-quested the company to leave the groves alone just two months before. These local conflicts are not a new phenomena, Pa-puans have been determined to defend their rights to ancestral land for many years. In recent years, as more and more plantations are established in Papua, many communities realise they have more to lose if their forest is destroyed than they might gain from the plantation economy. Opposition from local indig-enous communities has been successful in halting several plantation projects in Papua, where potential investors regularly cite the problems of obtaining rights to indigenous land as one of their main obsta-cles.

However, a major change this year is that action at a entirely different level also seems to be changing the outlook for the palm oil industry in Papua, limiting its expansion, which would be good news for the for-est, and probably forest-dependent communities too. In 2016 several international environmental organi-sations have chosen to focus on companies involved in Papua, which they are starting to see an important frontier for forest protection.

As a result, several oil palm companies have halted planting, and it looks likely that the pace of forest conversion will have significantly slowed as a result. But it is by no means certain that this trajectory is set to continue, it could still go either way depending on whether a new push for sustainability manages to transform the industry or whether it fails and settles back into business as usual.

The main mechanism being used to drive this change is through companies’ supply chains. In 2013 and

2014, key palm oil trading and refining companies bowed to pressure from their major customers and signed up to policies saying they would not source palm oil from companies engaged in deforestation, draining peat bogs or exploiting local people or workers.

At least 60% of palm oil traded around the world is now supposed to be covered by these ‘no deforesta-tion, peat or exploitation’ (NDPE) commitments. The three largest trading companies, Wilmar, Golden Agri Resources and Musim Mas, which were all well-known for terrible records of deforestation, were convinced to sign up, and this had an important di-rect result for Papua as all three groups abandoned plantation plans which would have involved defor-estation (Wilmar c.160,000 hectares of sugar cane plantations, Musim Mas 160,000 hectares of oil palm plantations and GAR 20,000 hectares of oil palm). But more than that, they started publishing quarterly lists of the mills and plantations which fed their re-fineries, so that their suppliers could be traced and violations of their sustainability policies highlighted. This is what has been such an important tool to change the industry. And since in Papua it would be almost impossible to imagine a large palm oil planta-tion without causing deforestation, it could poten-tially be a major deterrent to any new plantation pro-ject. That is, if the policies are applied properly.

The companies which have proved most vulnerable to this challenge have been groups with mature and productive plantations elsewhere which risk losing market access if the trading companies should sus-pend purchases. This was the case in PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya’s two concessions in South Sorong Regency after the three trading companies suspend-ed purchases in 2015. ANJ, which has 82,468 hec-tares of concessions in Papua, decided to call a tem-porary halt to land clearing to after being suspended by major traders. Eagle High Plantations, which through subsidiary PT Varia Mitra Andalan owns a concession in the same area, has also stopped forest clearance, and thereby managed to protect its market access.

After an investigation into its plantation busi-ness received widespread attention in September, Korindo, the Korean company which has been rapid-ly expanding its business near the Digoel River has also agreed to halt land-clearing on all their palm concessions, including PT Tunas Sawaerma and PT Papua Agro Lestari in Papua and another conflict-ridden concession in North Maluku, PT Gelora Man-diri Membangun. The crucial question now is what happens next. The companies which have stopped planting have made clear that it is a temporary measure. Korindo has described its decision to stop land-clearing as a ‘temporary moratorium’, while ANJ wrote in its an-nual report that it believes that “West Papua requires a different approach to the rest of Indonesia” where “clearance of some land cannot be avoided. ANJ has also continued working to secure the remaining per-

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mits it needs for its remaining concession since it imposed its moratorium, and a public consultation for the Environmental Impact Assessment was held in June 2016. This can only be interpreted as the companies view-ing the sustainability challenge as an obstacle which they may someday find a way around. If they do find some weakness which would allow them to keep ex-panding their plantations and still being able to sell their product, they are likely to take it. This could be the big traders weakening or not enforcing their poli-cies, or finding other buyers who don’t care where the oil comes from.

There are still trading companies who do not feel the need to take on sustainability policies. An example in Papua is Pacific Inter-link, which started work on the first concession in its 160,000 hectare estate in 2015. Since that company also refines, ships and markets end-products in the Middle East and Africa, it is much less dependent on customers which might make demands based on sustainability criteria. It has continued work on its plantation in 2016.

Nevertheless, no information has yet emerged that any new plantation companies have started land-clearing in 2016. We’ll have to wait for more analysis of satellite images and local reports over the next few months to confirm that but, given that five planta-tions started clearing Papuan forest in 2012, two more in 2013, five more in 2014 and six more in 2015, this may mean that less companies are pre-pared to take the risk of starting costly clearance work when they may not be able to sell their product.

A further piece of substantial good news for Papua’s forests could have come from the forestry ministry this year, but it didn’t. The Minister for the Environ-ment and Forestry has been preparing a policy for a five-year moratorium on new oil palm plantations, and has spoken specifically about the need to stop the industry consuming the intact forests of Papua. The promised moratorium was expected months ago, but has still not been published, presumably held up by other government departments who oppose the policy and pressure from the industry. However, the Forestry and Environment Ministry does claim that it is no longer issuing permits to release state forest lands to plantation companies. If this is true, it will act as a partial brake to new development, although large tracts of forest exist, particularly in Papua Bar-at province, which are not part of the state forest es-tate and therefore only require permits issued by local and provincial government.

A crucial question is whether the chancing commer-cial and political environment for the palm oil indus-try is actually changing anything for the forest peo-ples of Papua. After all, ‘No Exploitation’ is one of the pillars shared by companies’ sustainability poli-cies. Amongst other requirements this means engag-ing in a process of Free Prior Informed Consent with indigenous peoples affected by plantations, especial-ly those who hold customary land title.

Yet it appears that the ‘No Deforestation’ pillar is getting all the attention. When Greenpeace produced a report identifying problematic concessions in the supply chain of IOI, a Malaysian company, it con-tacted the trading companies and found that while several had already taken action to exclude or negoti-ate with two corporate groups due to deforestation (ANJ and Eagle High), only one had taken action in the case of PT Nabire Baru (Goodhope), where the main ongoing problem were social: lack of FPIC and human rights abuses by Police Mobile Brigade based at the plantation. Mighty’s report into Korindo’s oil palm plantations in Papua focussed primarily on analysis of deforestation and the likelihood of illegal burning, even though the social impact of Korindo’s concessions has also been dire. It’s not particularly surprising. Deforestation is easy to prove – nowadays anyone can download satellite images from the web and see where plantations are expanding. But social elements are much more sub-jective – there are often conflicting views from with-in a community itself on whether it has accepted or rejected a plantation, and in most cases full data on the steps a company has taken to negotiate access is not even available.

Nevertheless this has an effect which is potentially concerning. The driver for change in the industry becomes environmental organisations, which are often internationally based. Even though the NDPE momentum is also aimed at protecting indigenous communities rights, their movements do not have the power to use the same tools to hold companies to account when those rights are violated. In many cas-es, the forest protection agenda and local indigenous agenda are likely to concur, but if they don’t, the af-fected communities have less agency to effect change.

This is a problem which should not be ignored in Papua, where ethnic Papuans in general are margin-alised, and rural indigenous communities face the specific problem of being impoverished by the accel-eration of development projects, and so the issue of who sets the agenda is important. 2016 has also been a year when Papuan voices have been repressed. All year long, thousands of people have been detained in mass arrests aiming to prevent any demonstration taking place which is considered to support Papuan self-determination. A Papuan news web-site, suarapapua.com, has been blocked in Indonesia. The military, and militarised police units like the Police Mobile Brigade, are ever-present and are a real threat to indigenous people who might oppose development projects in their area. So while these industry-led initiatives which appear to be having some impact are to be welcomed, they are no substitute for a more fundamental transfor-mation which gives indigenous Papuans real power to determine the future of the forest that they de-pend on, as their ancestors did. That is a wider ques-tion, but in the meantime, one practical challenge is to improve communication so that the ‘no exploita-tion’ aspect of NDPE policies is upheld, and indige-nous communities can use it to defend their rights.

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